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Now 80 years old, she told The Herald read Investigation Report — which includes her testimony — is an extremely difficult work that brings up a lot of emotions.
“I appreciate that the crimes and cruelty of child abductions from ‘unwed mothers’ homes’ are recognised in the recommendations, but I am extremely frustrated that public hospitals, judgemental social workers, GPs etc have been excluded from consideration.
“Our only chance to be heard was through the royal commission, but too many people’s views were ignored.”
Care Abuse Survey findings on homes for unwed mothers
Forced adoption The survey report (covering 1950-1999) contains a chapter devoted to the experiences of women and girls.
Those placed in these foster homes often had no choice but to be forced or coerced into giving their babies up for adoption, and they suffered abuse and neglect, many of which were “rife with misogyny and sexism,” the investigation found.
“Gender-based abuse is particularly evident in households with unmarried mothers. Young girls and women are subjected to verbal abuse, physical abuse and forced labour, medical abuse during pregnancy and childbirth, and psychological and emotional abuse through coerced or forced adoption of babies.
“Religious beliefs justify or reinforce the demonization, dehumanization, and the resulting abuse of girls and women in these families… Their children need to be rescued and redeemed by adoption into dignified families.”
Women in the survey said that losing a child would cause them great grief and affect the rest of their lives.
“Māori women and girls, whether adopted by birth mothers or through closed adoptions, face being cut off from their parents, language and culture.”
The survey noted that in the 1950s and 1960s, contraception was restricted and the Social Security Department was reluctant to pay unemployment benefits to unmarried mothers.
This, along with “intense discrimination and judgment, often based on perceived promiscuity,” forced many into homes for unwed mothers run by the Anglican, Catholic, and Presbyterian churches, as well as the Salvation Army. Some institutions also served as maternity hospitals and children’s homes, and arranged adoptions.
Legal framework allowing forced adoption
The Adoption Act 1955 provided that only state governments could approve adoptions, but despite this, church agencies and the Salvation Army continued to actively promote adoptions in the following decades.
“We were sent there to hide our shame or just to hide,” said Susan Williams, a survivor of Wellington’s Bethany Home, which is run by the Salvation Army. Expert witness Barbara Sumner told investigators Bethany Homes was akin to an adoption agency or program.
For vulnerable women who are already in state care, the pressure is even greater. One Maori survivor with a learning disability was re-admitted to Lake Alice Hospital in Rangitiki at the age of 24 with her three-month-old baby.
Two days after being admitted to the hospital, her child was taken away by a social worker.
“I did not give my child informed consent for adoption and was not able to understand what was happening and my rights,” she told investigators.
Physical and emotional abuse
Survivors recalled being called “dirty”, “nasty” and “whores”. The matron at St Mary’s Anglican Home for Unmarried Mothers in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland, was particularly cruel. The women and girls there were not allowed to use their own names and had to be referred to by the matron’s surname, “Gallagher”.
She told residents that their children would die if they did not listen to her and made them complete hard chores and work until the birth.
Nancy Levy, who was admitted to the nursing home in 1968 before her 17th birthday, recalled being asked to scrub the floor with a toothbrush “on her stomach for hours on end.”
Hunger and malnutrition were a hallmark of these nursing homes. Maggie Wilkinson said the residents of St Mary’s were starving because Gallagher wanted them to have small babies that would be easy to deliver.
Women and girls were given drugs without consent. Christine Hamilton of St Vincent’s Mercy House in Auckland was given sedatives and anaesthetics during labour and woke up the next day, 17 hours after giving birth, to find her son was gone.
Hamilton, 70, who lives in Australia, told The Herald The report “evokes all the emotions deep within you.”
“As a mother who has lost a son – my son is now 51 – nothing can undo the damage done to me and him.
“I’m glad this part of New Zealand’s history is being brought to light in a meaningful way, and hopefully we can recognise all the pain and suffering that adoption has caused. I want to see Mercy House take responsibility for the trauma it has caused our babies and mothers.”
Another woman, “Ms. D,” said in the investigation that she was left alone for three days to give birth and, in addition to being beaten by a female nurse, she was told she deserved the punishment for being promiscuous. “Ms. D was forced to give birth lying on her side so that she could not see her baby,” the investigation report stated.
At 14, Patricia Salter was sent to the Children’s Home for Unwed Mothers in Epsom, Auckland (run by the New Zealand Council of Christian Women).
“No one stopped to ask how a 14-year-old got pregnant or if I was abused or traumatized,” she said.
When she gave birth and was taken to Auckland Hospital, the abuse continued.
“I was treated like garbage. When I gave birth, the doctor or nurse slapped me. After the baby was born, they stitched me up without anaesthetic or painkillers.
“The child was taken away from me immediately. I had no say. I never saw the child again. I have forgotten a lot of what happened at the time because it was so painful for me.”
Coercion and force lead to closed adoptions
There was constant pressure on these women and girls to consent to the adoption, which was arranged with the cooperation of state social welfare workers and quickly approved by the Ministry of Social Welfare.
Many adoptions were “closed”, requiring the re-issuance of birth certificates stating that the child was born to the adoptive parents. Māori lost the opportunity to have their children raised as whāngai by relatives, and to know whakapapa and tikanga.
When these women or girls return home, they are often warned by their families not to speak of the experience or the child again.
Important historical omissions
Karen Dunn, 78, gave up her baby under pressure from social and health workers, but she never entered a home for unwed mothers.
She told the Herald there was a lack of historical content in the inquest report.
“They call it a secret pregnancy. I went through that system. I found a private OB/GYN through the Salvation Army, and he referred me to Nelson, who arranged the adoption.”
During her pregnancy, Dunn lived with a private family.
“They basically treated me like a servant – I had dinner with them once a week. The rest of the time I cleaned and looked after the children. It was very lonely.”
In 1965, she was admitted to a public hospital to give birth and lived alone in a room.
“The birth was done under general anaesthetic so you couldn’t actually see the baby. They were taken away straight away. My understanding was that the adoption was arranged.
“Hospitals have a lot of responsibility in the adoption process. But they were completely left out of it.”
What’s happening now
The commission was set up in 2018 to initially investigate abuse in state care, but later expanded its remit to include religious or “faith-based” organisations.
The final report, running to 16 volumes and 2,944 pages, criticised successive government ministers and departments, as well as a range of religious organisations including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches and the Salvation Army.
The group called on the government and relevant organizations to formally apologize and provide compensation. The police were asked to set up a special unit to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the abuse. However, many people have died.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called it a “dark and sad day” following the release of the report and said the government would issue a formal apology on November 12.
Yesterday, the Anglican Trust for Women and Children (ATWC), which runs St Mary’s Home, acknowledged the royal commission’s report and expressed its “heartfelt gratitude to the survivors who participated”.
“Following the report, we will do everything we can to support victims and avoid re-traumatization – we encourage any survivors who have experienced abuse in ATWC services to come forward. We will believe them and help them find solutions,” said Andrea McLeod, CEO of ATWC.
April 2022 The Herald At that time, Auckland Anglican Bishop Ross Bay and ATWC representatives Apologize to Wilkinson personallyat her home in Gisborne.
Nicholas Jones is an investigative reporter for the Herald. He is a finalist for the 2024 Voyager Media Awards Journalist of the Year and has won numerous national media awards for his reporting and feature writing.
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